Kayaking on the Russian River, River Rat
A Russian River vacation rental has to include a kayak trip on the Russian River. You really cant appreciate the raw beauty of the area unless you view it from another point of view. The river is really what created this area and its amazing to see and experience it without the influences of modern man. You really dont see River Road, or the shops of the area. And somehow the houses that dot the river bank seem like they belong there.
Thom and I hit the River at Guerneville. We walked by Kings in Guerneville and arranged to meet our kayaks at Johnsons Beach and then grabbed breakfast. They met us with our kayaks at Johnsons beach right below the swimming dam, with everything we needed (nothing). Although your mind likes to play with the idea of rapids, or the dreaded wrong turn (think dueling banjos); there is nothing too exciting. Embarassing incidents really were never the “river’s” fault, we both managed to dragged bottom on a few sandbars. I think that is called too much weight in the boat.
The most challenging part of our cruise, was the haul out at the Summer Dam. The summer dam goes up to control the water flow, and it eliminates the thrilling “ripples” (itty bitty rapids). But it does mean exiting a kayak gracefully, and carrying them a short distance. We were both one for two. Neither of us exited gracefully, but we sure laughed as we carried our boats to the other side.
The end was as good as the beginning. Monte Rio wasnt far beyond, and the pick up point was just beyond the Monte Rio bridge. The fun part was pulling out early, and running up to Fern’s Grocery. Kings has an arrangement, and Fern calls them so that your ride arrives just about the time you do. Since I often stopped by, I picked up a lot of catcalls about my lifejacket, which seemed like my second skin. The great hotel of monte, the Highland Dell sits gracefully on the left bank, and probably should have been our destination for dinner and drinks. But instead, we headed home, to rescue the dog, and laugh about our day on the river. I teased Thom, that he had truly become a “river rat”.
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